Cerro Coso volleyball beats Santa Ana in five

Friday

Oct 4, 2013 at 3:15 PM

SANTA ANA — In its final tune-up before conference play, the Cerro Coso volleyball team notched a thrilling victory on the road. The Coyotes beat Santa Ana in five sets 26-24, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13 on Wednesday night.

By Anthony GentileSPORTS EDITORagentile@ridgecrestca.com

SANTA ANA — In its final tune-up before conference play, the Cerro Coso volleyball team notched a thrilling victory on the road. The Coyotes beat Santa Ana in five sets 26-24, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13 on Wednesday night."It was super exciting — the girls played really well," Coyotes head coach Kim Young said. "They worked their tails off and they played with a lot of heart." After both teams split the first four sets, Cerro Coso (5-5) took a tight fifth set to win the match. The Coyotes fell behind 5-2 early in the final frame, and eventually rallied to take a 10-9 lead. Once in front, Cerro Coso didn't give up the lead and hung on for the five-set victory."That's the only set that we didn't have the lead in until the end," Young said. "They didn't miss any serves, they didn't make any errors in the critical moments, and we came back to beat them."We both played well on defense and we both played well on offense — it was going to be anybody's game."In the victory, outside hitter Ashley Sherrick led the team with 24 kills and 24 digs. Outside hitter Jessica Lange finished with 11 kills, and 27 of her 44 serve receives were deemed perfect by the Cerro Coso coaching staff."She had one of the best games I have ever seen her play — she was on fire," Young said of Lange. Middle hitters Laura Metcalf (eight kills) and Morgan Fuller (six kills) also had solid offensive performances for the Coyotes, who hit .211 as a team against Santa Ana. Cerro Coso played the match shorthanded due to injury, which forced players to shuffle into different spots to fill the void left by three injuries."We had girls playing in positions that they are used to, but don't see a lot of time at," Young said. "They stepped up and it was pretty neat."Setter Kelsey Lopez filled in for injured starter Candace Perez, and delivered a strong performance. Lopez ran Cerro Coso's 5-1 offense and finished with 18 digs on defense."I couldn't have asked for better play from her," Young said. "She hustled, she played smart, she got the girls in rhythm and did a great job."Libero Brittany May was another player that saw an increase in playing time against Santa Ana. May did well in place of injured starter Adrianna Volentine. "She stepped up and did an excellent job," Young said. "I think at first there might have been some nerves, but she quickly got over it, really regrouped and figured out how to play with confidence."The victory gives Cerro Coso a .500 record heading into Foothill Conference play. Young said that the team has improved every day since being swept by Southwestern College on Sept. 6."Since then the girls have really made some good changes — they're playing more mentally tough and they're playing smart," Young said. "I'm really happy — I see improvements every day and it's exciting. They're starting to really figure out that we have to play smart."Cerro Coso opens conference play at home against Chaffey College on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Ray McCue Center. The Panthers finished the preseason 11-6, and enter Foothill play with the best record in the conference. "The girls are excited — all they keep talking about is waiting for conference games to start," Young said. "We're getting ready and they're working hard in practice."